Weather Eye: spring equinox

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Even though both receive much the same solar energy, on average the spring equinox is far cooler than the autumn equinox

Today is the spring equinox, when spring begins according to astronomy — although meteorologists say spring begins on March 1. Either way, there is little sign of anything spring-like today or indeed for the rest of the month.

This is turning into a cold March, barely warmer than January or February, and with heavy rains it looks likely to be a wet March as well — possibly breaking the long run of dry springs seen in recent years.

A cold March is not so unusual, though. After winter, the land and surrounding seas are now close to their coldest for the entire

Winter is officially drawing to a close today and despite the ups and downs in
temperature it was a fairly average winter, overall — so much for the
three-month Arctic freeze that some newspapers had predicted